These days you can pretty much pick any weekend in Cochrane and be assured there's something special happening. Then there are those where several are crammed into one fun-filled day. 

With a bright and colourful fall in full bloom, Saturday, Sept. 30 was one of those special days with several long-held community traditions sharing the spotlight.

The month already had kicked off with the Lions Club Labour Day Weekend Rodeo, Labour Day Parade, the Cochrane Classic Car Club's Show and Shine, Two Pharmacy's Diaper Derby and the Terry Fox Run. The stage was now set for the 17th edition of the Great Cochrane Outhouse Race in the Historic Downtown in the morning and just down the road in the Frank Wills Memorial Hall was the 13th annual Nakoda-Cochrane Pickin' Party that afternoon. Meanwhile, the Links of GlenEagles was home to the annual Monumental golf tournament.

Great Cochrane Outhouse Race

There have been years when Karrie Peace, of Heavenly Outhouse, has had to push for entries right up until the last minute for the Outhouse Race that is uniquely Cochrane. Such was not the case this year. A full slate of 28 teams entered and six more were waiting in the wings.

There's no race quite like one with Outhouses on wheels and it's in that spirit the event is taken by participants. Sure, there were hardcore athletics runners, but the laughs are what you remember best. The holdup of mayor candidates Ivan Brooker and Jeff Genung; the bagpipes of Susan Flowers, the Bethany's wrestling team that couldn't make it to the end without breaking out into a brawl, Heavenly Outhouse's team making a pit stop to do a little shopping along the route, the Lederhosen and Dirndl clad runners of the Half Hitch Brewery team and their cuckoo bird driver, the super-hero charged Rebel Comics crew... and way too many more to mention.

Many people came together to make the event a success and when the dust settled in excess of $11,000 was raised for the Cochrane Activettes' Food Bank.

Nakoda-Cochrane Pickin' Party

The Nakoda-Cochrane Pickin' Party took a page from an early day and returned to the Frank Wills Memorial Hall for free afternoon jam of local musicians. The door is always left open for participants and the response saw a full afternoon of music that ranged from traditional country to classical guitar and folk to modern pop.

They, too, have had their shares or ups and down and the move indoors for the first time in years seem to have been a good one. Throughout the afternoon they had about 200 people come and go to enjoy the music and the cooks were kept busy preparing bannock burgers for a steady stream of customers.

The pickin' party that was created to bring Cochrane and Stoney Nakoda Nations musicians together and the tradition will continue this fall. Organizers are hoping to build upon the momentum gained in the 2017 edition.

Monumental Tournament of Aces

The same day, another Cochrane tradition was taking place at the Links of GlenEagles. The 10th Annual Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Foundation Monumental Tournament of Aces, co-organized by the foundation and Rotary Club of Cochrane, can best be described as sociable golf with fun challenges that raises money for many worthy causes.

The tournament attracted another sold-out crowd and raised $83,000, $42,000 of which came from sponsorships. The proceeds will be donated to a number of causes, including Cochrane Search and Rescue, the Rotary's student exchange program and Lindsay's Kids, sports sponsorship program.

The year, the foundation is taking a step back and the event will be completely organized by the Rotary Club in the future.